My vegan journey

Hey guys! Since I have been getting a lot of questions on Instagram lately, I thought that it was time for me to share my story of how I became vegan. Hopefully I can inspire or help you in some way.

I still remember the first time I heard about veganism. It was in 8th grade and someone had told me that our geography teacher was a vegan. I was baffled- how could someone survive from eating only fruit and vegetable?? I thought it was absurd and I moved on eating meat and other animal products. Sometimes I used to casually joke around about becoming vegetarian, but then I always thought about how restrictive that would be, so I continued with my normal diet.

What I ate before becoming vegan

Since I am about 14 I always cared about what I looked like and about the shape that my body was in. I used to restrict my calories a lot, sometimes only eating 1200 calories in a day. For breakfast I used to have a tiny oatmeal and I would always weight my oats to make sure that I wouldn’t be eating more than 40g. On some days I would add half a banana to my oats, because I used to think that too much fruit (a whole banana) would make me fat. For lunch I usually had a salad with chicken or salmon or sometimes even just a muesli bar (!!), needless to say that I never really felt satisfied, so I drank loads and loads of coke light to repress my cravings for more food. For dinner I usually had grilled vegetable with some kind of meat. Because I never ate till I was properly full, I was always craving food, so I allowed myself one “cheatday” a week where I then binged on lots of unhealthy food. On that day I would for example have several chocolate bars, a Ben and Jerry’s and a whole bag of popcorn. I would then feel beyond full and also slightly disgusted in the evening, promising myself to restrict calories and eat healthy again for the rest of the week.

How I became vegan

My journey to veganism started in April this year. I was studying like crazy for my final exams, so I

used to spend every day for two weeks in a library. Whenever I felt like I needed a break from studying I scrolled through my instagram. One day Essena Oneill posted a picture of this kid that had been brought up raw vegan by his mom Ellen Fisher. I subscribed to her Instagram and got inspired by her lifestyle. I saw pictures of her eating 5 mangos for a meal, which seemed like heaven to me! So that evening when I came home I didn’t only have 1 mango for dinner- I had 3 ( I know still not a lot, but it was a start). Because I found her lifestyle so inspiring I started watching several YouTube videos and I bought the 801010 book. I figured: if I ate the right food I would no longer have to restrict my calories so much. So I started integrating more fruit and vegetable into my diet, for example by trading the oatmeal for banana icecream in the morning. I tried to avoid animal products as much as possible, however I still sometimes ate meat or dairy whenever I was with my family or friends, because I didn’t want them to have to cook something else for me. It took some time until I told them that I had decided to become vegan, which was the point where I completely stopped eating animal products. In the beginning everyone thought that this was just a phase, but at some point they realized that I was serious about what I was doing and also accepted my decision.

The high carb vegan lifestyle

As the people that inspired me to become vegan were all high carb vegans I started eating high carb vegan foods. I then informed myself by reading books such as “the 801010 diet” and “the starch solution” which both confirmed my approach. In case you are wondering, being a “high carb” vegan simply means that you get about 80% of your calories from carbohydrates, 10% from proteins and 10% from fats. If you are interested in this lifestyle I recommend you read those books or watch “freelee the bananagirl” videos on YouTube.

Raw till 4? Fully raw? Starch Solution?

There are several high carb vegan approaches. In the beginning I used to follow the raw till 4 diet, but now I just eat whatever feels right for me as long as its vegan and high carb. Of course, I occasionally have a vegan chocolate bar or some other high fat food, but that happens very rarely.

Being social as a high carb vegan

In the beginning I was struggling a bit with eating out with friends. But it is actually so easy! There are many options: you can go have sushi (just order sushi with cucumber, avocado or some other vegetable), eat Thai food (vegetables curries are vegan as they contain coconut milk) or even enjoy a Pizza (ask for a vegetable Pizza without cheese).

What I eat in a day

I have been getting a lot of questions about what I eat in a day. This question is kind of hard to answer as it always changes depending on the season and what I feel like.

For breakfast I usually have banana icecream (6 frozen bananas blended), a banana smoothie or a portion of oatmeal. For lunch I like to make myself a salad or have some more fruit such as mangos and persimmons if there is any ripe fruit in the house. For dinner I love having a soup our cooking myself some vegetable. Whenever I get hungry during the day I snack on medjool dates.

I could actually write like 10 more pages about this topic, so if you have any questions let me know in the comments and I can do another post soon! xx